Here’s an interesting discovery: Nintendo has apparently region-locked the Wii U GamePad controller. Which means if you purchase a GamePad controller in Japan (which are sold separately at around $180), and try to connect it to your Wii U in the United States, it won’t work.

Wii U consoles are region locked, and so are the games. It seems Nintendo went the extra step and region locked a controller. As far as we know, this would be the first time in history that a videogame controller is region locked.

Nintendo currently only sells the GamePad separately in Japan, but will start selling them individually in North America and Europe next year. There are currently no games that support two GamePads, nor are there any games that have been announced to support two GamePads.

Aww,I soo looking forward to spending 100-200 bucks for a second controller that I’ll never use from another region.This sux! *sarcasm switch off*
Chill out guys.Sure this wasn’t a smart move from Nintendo but honestly,will this in particular affect us much?I doubt it
Plus,like the article says,there are currently are no games that support 2 Gamepad controllers,so why get a second one?Why not just have 1 Gamepad and anybody else gets Wiimotes and/or Pro controllers?That’s good enough for me

John Madsen

wow really nintendo you region locked the gamepad how %$#@#$!@#$%$#=@#$$%^&*&^&&*&^^%$#@!!!@#$ stupid are you

Th3PANO

lol who the fuck cares, no need for a second gamepad now, lol overreacting a bit community?

blaster man

If it’s of so little importance then why did Nintendo do it? Clearly THEY think there’s a reason for it.

Johny

lol… why was that necesarry nintendo ? 😐 well its not such big a deal when you look at it… but still

Ford Crews

Cause they want to milk every extra dime out of customers they can. If they didn’t, people might exploit differences in the money markets and save some money. This way they can charge nations that can’t afford big bucks for games less, and screw rich prosperous nations.

Megan Allen

screw rish prosperous nations….nice sentiment

Ford Crews

Well a truly free market for games would help almost everyone except Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo. Region locks are there to maximize the profits of the richest of the rich, not help consumers.

Fistbiscuit2000

My Wii U is dead! 🙁

DemonRoach

Shows that the gamepad was the worst Idea in Nintendo history. It raised the Wii U from a 150$ machine to a 300 machine. So we got stuck with a trash piece of junk unit just to get a crap screen on our controller, this is why Nintendo stock dropped 20% in the past 30 days.

DemonRoach

And 2, there is no way a separate gamepad costs over 90$ since a 3DS XL cost 160.

pokemonmastershadow

Electronics cost more in Japan yet you’re comparing it to the English prices, and importing fees add to the cost as well.

Th3PANO

wow lol. overreacting dafuq? worst idea?

Revolution5268

i never seen this type of region locked before, but makes me wonder…..whats next?